Dublin & His Hoomin

Uh, oh! Another crazy cat lady!

I can hear some of you wondering how crazy I am in regards to cats, & I am, but just a bit. My home is not strewn with scads of kitty paraphernalia, although I do have some cat figurines & books. My life is not all about cats, although I do love them, especially the one in my daily life.

Dublin is a very special cat, but then aren’t they all? Each & every one of God’s creations are special, whether human or animal, bird or insect, tree or water, etc., etc., etc.. To me, though, Dublin is one of the most special, & we have a very close bond.

Maybe part of it’s due to the fact that I never married & never had children, but it’s also because he came into my life at a crucial time.

He saved my life.

I’m not saying that I’d be physically dead if he wasn’t part of it, but my life’s definitely a lot richer with him in it.

Since 1988, I’ve struggled on & off with depression, although not nearly as badly as some. It’s still tough, though, as anyone with any level of depression will tell you. It’s not a constant thing in my life, & most of the time I’m fine.

Back in November 2008, I was emerging from a depression, but I needed something or someone to give me the last little boost out. Enter Dublin.

My parents & I were visiting Allen (my brother) & Danielle (his then-wife) for his 36th birthday. We knew about three of their pets – a black & white tuxie Manx cat named Mungo (Welsh for handsome, which he lived up to); a black long haired cat named Mabel (a male, but it’s hard when kittens are very young to tell their genders if you don’t know what to look for); & a terrier mix named Oogie Boogie. We’re all sitting in the living room expecting Mungo to walk into the room at any time. We didn’t expect Mabel because he was shy around strangers, & Oogie, because of his barking & dislike of strangers, was kept in another part of the house when people visited.

What we didn’t expect was a completely different cat to enter the room, but in walked a small, stocky ginger cat who reminded us of Sam, a cat from my childhood. Mom, Dad & I were surprised by him, but we admired him as he paused in the doorway for a bit before making the decision of who he’d grace with his attentions.

Me!

He walked over to me, stood up on his back legs, put his front paws beside me on the couch, & his little chin on my knee. It was instant love between the two of us! I stroked his head & he purred up a storm as I did so, his golden eyes squinted in bliss.

He stayed there like that for a while before getting down & padding away.

It turned out that Danielle had been out with a friend & they’d gone to The Duke Of Dublin Irish Pub & Grill in their town of Abbotsford, & he’d gone right to them. So he wasn’t feral. She thinks that he’d gotten outside somehow & just hadn’t gone home. She scooped him up & took him home. It’s obviously not known how long he’d been out on the street, but he had no fear of people, & so obviously he’d been someone’s pet.

Allen & Danielle told us that they were looking for a good, safe home for him. They would’ve loved to keep him, but Mabel & he did not get along, & Oogie kept barking at him. Mungo didn’t pay him much mind, although they got along fairly well. If they could not find a home for him, they would keep him, but they were hoping for a good home.

I’d been wanting a dog so that I’d have companionship & so that I could take a beastie for a walk, but I said that I’d ask my landlord & landlady to see if they’d let me bring him home.

At one point, I thought of changing my mind & of saying that I wouldn’t take him after all, but then I felt so sick to my stomach that I knew that wasn’t right. I got permission to bring Dublin home, & that was exciting.

I told Allen & Danielle, & so they got his first shots done, got him neutered, & got him started on deworming medication & flea treatment. The vet said that he was about a year old, & that, aside from having fleas from being out on the street for who-knows-how-long, he was very healthy.

I had minor surgery on Thursday 4 December 2008, & two days later – 6 December 2008 – Dublin had his Gotcha Day. I went & picked him up, using a carrier I’d borrowed from friends, & drove him home. When I got him home, I opened the carrier door & just let him leave whenever he wanted to. It didn’t take him long to realise that he was the only animal in the place, & soon he was right at home.

Tomorrow, which is my 46th birthday, will be our eight year three month anniversary of sharing this home, & it’s been good. It’s certainly not been perfect – he’s peed where he shouldn’t, been sick & went outside without his harness. He’s hissed at me (only a few times) & gone into spaces where I don’t want him to. Yet, overall, it’s been wonderful. He’s been a true blessing in my life, & he’s given me unconditional love. He’s sweet & funny & smart & curious & loving, & he never fails to amaze me with his physical abilities, especially his flexibility & how high he can jump. He loves to be with me & misses me when I’m gone, even just for a short while. It’s been great having him here, & I wouldn’t change a moment of it, even the times when I’ve been worried about him.

He depends on me, for food & safety & shelter & lovin’s, & I’m glad to take care of these for him.

Right now he’s stretched out down my legs, his breathing steady as he sleeps. It’s good that he’s a lap kitty, & I wouldn’t trade my time with him for anything. I hope & pray that he’s with me for at least a decade more. <3

2 thoughts on “Dublin & His Hoomin”

Dublin sounds perrrfect! Is that him in the picture? He’s super cute. I just love cat personalities!!!

I have 3 cats (and to think I use to consider myself a dog person). Jake is my wild boy who jumps high up on the cabinets, digs his claws in deep, and belts out songs at 3 am. Andy is my lover. He just wants to eat (and will cuddle for his treats) and infinitely loves string. He’s staring at me as I type meowing and pushing a crocheted rope at me… and last is Toothless, my lazy cat who sits in her bed all day and hates the other cats. They mess up my blinds, knock the food bin off the fridge, dig through my trash, treat the liter box like a sand box, sit on my head when I’m sleeping… and I love them for it.

Hi, Therealgoddessianna. Thanks so much for sharing about your cats! Yes, they can be into everything & cause all kinds of trouble. I’d never want it any other way, though. They’re such a blessing! Yes, I used to consider myself much more of a dog person, too, but once Dublin came into my life, that was it! 😀

Yes, that is him with me in the picture in the post. He is as sweet & darling as he looks. He’s a stereotypical ginger male. 🙂